How can I get Mike Tucker sacked?

The late Raymond Brookes-Ward was The Late Dorian Williams protégée. Both were BBC in every respect.

I don't think Raymond had a protégée.

Some serious training programs have to be generated.

Personally I am not a fan of Claire Balding either, especially so far as racing is concerned, rushing around poking her microphone under owners noses in the paddock.

In my opinion the best bet would be Emma Spencer (she is very attractive) and Mike Cattermole (he is very good looking). But, then I suppose that's as good as saying sack the BBC too!

Both Emma and Mike are excellent commentators, flawless in their detail and humorous without being patronising.

If you watch Channel 4 racing and study their interviews with riders, owners, or trainers they generate a warmth of dialogue, whereas others viz those for the BBC never bring out the ambience of the person.
 
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Friend came round to join me on the sofa to watch & we decided we should buy an event horse & call it "Shut Up Tucker!"!! What some blithering nonsense he uttered! Please can someone tell me whether he actually did say that one of the Japanese riders was actually an ex Buddhist Monk - we swear blind he said one of them was!!!!!
 
ajb123 said:
Friend came round to join me on the sofa to watch & we decided we should buy an event horse & call it "Shut Up Tucker!"!! What some blithering nonsense he uttered! Please can someone tell me whether he actually did say that one of the Japanese riders was actually an ex Buddhist Monk - we swear blind he said one of them was!!!!!
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My OH remarked on that point and I was trying to think of a witty repost but words failed me.

Do we need to know that a Japanese rider was/is a Buddhist Monk - was he really, well if Mr Tucker said so, it must be right.:o

If a Church of England Vicar were participating, would Tucker have commented probably not! He was in fact being discriminatory by implying there was something unusual about having a Buddhist Monk riding in the XC of the Equestrian Olympics - does it matter what or who anybody is in these games?

All these ladies and gentlemen have been around for far far too long and are well past their sell by dates.

What you have to do is sit watching the programme and if you personally feel embarrassed by the comments made by the commentator then there is some thing wrong.

We need some fresh voices and faces, who are in tune with today's society and culture.
 
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Of course he would have commented if a vicar had been participating, he commented on several "day jobs" of amateurs. For those of us in the UK where most top eventers are pros it is pretty awe inspiring that the Brazilian is a doctor and runs a rubber plantation as well as being an eventer so I was glad to hear that bit of commentary. Likewise the Buddhist monk and the student.
 
Kat said:
Of course he would have commented if a vicar had been participating, he commented on several "day jobs" of amateurs. For those of us in the UK where most top eventers are pros it is pretty awe inspiring that the Brazilian is a doctor and runs a rubber plantation as well as being an eventer so I was glad to hear that bit of commentary. Likewise the Buddhist monk and the student.
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Not in the slightest bit interested in what riders 'do'. I am only interested in their riding ability and the horse, anything else is distracting.
 
I think Mike Tucker is far less irritating than the awful male commentator that Eurosport use for the showjumping,he is truly annoying.
 
Kat said:
Of course he would have commented if a vicar had been participating, he commented on several "day jobs" of amateurs. For those of us in the UK where most top eventers are pros it is pretty awe inspiring that the Brazilian is a doctor and runs a rubber plantation as well as being an eventer so I was glad to hear that bit of commentary. Likewise the Buddhist monk and the student.
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This, I find it interesting to know riders' day jobs! Everybody knew Hinrich was a dentist, after all :) I think it's a bit picky to slate Mike for informing viewers of this, no matter how annoying he may be :p
 
Any mistakes MT made were dwarfed by the girl that they had doing "spectator" interviews around the arena on dressage day 2. She was totally inane. But then I was so glad to be there that nothing could spoil my day. Bring on the SJ - will be so tense with no room for error.
 
Maesfen said:
I'm standing up for Mike, sorry! His commentating is just how he is naturally; we'd be in fits of laughter when exercising. At least he's natural and not a stuffed shirt or trying to be someone he's not. You could have a lot worse.
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I agree. I like Mike Tucker for his humour and naturalness. I also think voice is very important and he has a nice voice. I also see him as the presenter of a show not the expert.

A lot of the equestrian male commentators bar Nick Brooks Ward just don't have powerful manly voices and sound insipid and girly on the TV and although they provide the ' expertise' they don't have the charisma or personality to compare a show.

Keep rockin Mike some of us like you.

Do think they need to totally revamp the existing crop of commentators though and get some more dynamic personalities involved.

Clare Balding, Mike Tucker, Nick BW and Tim Stockdale as ' expert' would be perfect for me for pure SJ.
 
I thought MT and Ian did a good job overall - they were certainly nicer to each other than sometimes in the past with only one or two narky comments at each other! It was a long day for them. Ian is always good with his comments, but Mike is the anchor man - and after all, he is was also a Badminton rider.

I like to hear about the breeding of the horses and what the riders do, other than ride.
 
Just re the fact they didn't know about fallers etc, it wasn't filmed by the BBC, the BBC are using Olympic coverage from all events, not their own cameras so they only had the same pictures as us to go from, hence they were a bit late or vague about fallers and refusals. I got the impression that they were as irritated as us with it!
 
I actually think it is important for the commentators to comment on any 'points of interest' outside of 'this man rides horses' because it is not just us die hard horsey folk who are going to be watching this. I was at Greenwich for the XC yesterday and there were a LOT of people who were confused by the rules/alternatives/how everything worked. So i see it as a good thing if the commentators can give a bit of 'extra' information, it keeps everyone interested, without switching off the non horsey public by just sticking to the finer points of equestrianism...which, lets be honest, half the equestrian world don't even understand!
FWIW, its not just Mike Tucker, whoever was commentating on the womens cycling road race on sunday kept referring to some of the cyclists as 'he'
 
Mike007 said:
The word is actualy caulk ,or caulkin,"A caulkin (or caulk; US spelling "calkin" or "calk") from the Latin calx (the heel) is a blunt projection on a horseshoe that is often forged, welded or brazed onto the shoe.[1][2] The term may also refer to traction devices screwed into the bottom of a horseshoe, also commonly called shoe studs or screw-in calks. These are usually a blunt spiked cleat, usually placed at the sides of the shoe"......and it is a British word that has simply fallen out of use.:cool:
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Thankyou, interesting :)

If they had pronounced it as it is spelled then I would have had less of a "What the ...?" moment, cork floored me for a bit. :o
 
fabscd said:
I actually think it is important for the commentators to comment on any 'points of interest' outside of 'this man rides horses' because it is not just us die hard horsey folk who are going to be watching this. I was at Greenwich for the XC yesterday and there were a LOT of people who were confused by the rules/alternatives/how everything worked. So i see it as a good thing if the commentators can give a bit of 'extra' information, it keeps everyone interested, without switching off the non horsey public by just sticking to the finer points of equestrianism...which, lets be honest, half the equestrian world don't even understand!
FWIW, its not just Mike Tucker, whoever was commentating on the womens cycling road race on sunday kept referring to some of the cyclists as 'he'
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^^^This. I like him :D I am in France and had to watch the entire cross-country without any commentary whatsoever - I'd gladly have swapped with any of you who were distracted by the commentary!!!
 
FYI -Mike Tucker has just said that GB have won a bronze in the team eventing - did i miss some awful downgrade, or has he got this wrong too!! Having said which, having commentated myself at shows, i do realise that it is a complex thing to do well in a timely fashion, and there is clearly massive pressure on all the olympic presenters........
 
Steven Hadley is the guy to have- is he doing any of the showjumping? Good background breeding knowledge, and interesting stuff about horse and rider.
 
jojo5 said:
FYI -Mike Tucker has just said that GB have won a bronze in the team eventing - did i miss some awful downgrade, or has he got this wrong too!! Having said which, having commentated myself at shows, i do realise that it is a complex thing to do well in a timely fashion, and there is clearly massive pressure on all the olympic presenters........
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I think the problem seems to be as stated before that they are working on some kind of time delay information so muddling along with what they are provided with. This could be correct when it left the source but out of date when reaching the commentary box.
 
jojo5 said:
Steven Hadley is the guy to have- is he doing any of the showjumping? Good background breeding knowledge, and interesting stuff about horse and rider.
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Think he does FEI TV commentary. Apparently he is now too old for the BBC :(
 
Absolutely understand this, and have fallen foul of late info myself, but this was just a few minutes ago while we are waiting for the medal ceremony. Hey ho.
 
Enfys said:
Thankyou, interesting :)

If they had pronounced it as it is spelled then I would have had less of a "What the ...?" moment, cork floored me for a bit. :o
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Yes in Ye Olden Days [in my memory 1950's] city streets were cobbled with granite setts/cobbles, and they were like bricks laid in rows, the horses were shod behind to prevent slipping by using horse shoes with a "heel" or caulkin, the hind shoes slipped in to the grooves in the cobbles, so horses were able to pull a cart up a hill. Those poor horses, they really worked.
http://www.domusviridis.org.uk/wjg/memoirs/glasgow_1950s.htm
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=e...bled-Streets-and-Areas-of-Liverpool&docid=-LC
 
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